ABRAnews Three sides to every story.
US Politics

Vatican says Pope Leo has voted by mail in the US midterm elections

Outlets call him the first pope to vote in a US election, and the Vatican says he votes as a citizen whenever eligible.

19 news outlets reported this
Liberal7 outletsCenter5 outletsConservative7 outlets
Published 4 min read
Overview

The Vatican said on Friday, Oct. 30, that Pope Leo XIV has voted in the Nov. 3 US elections. Its press office said he submitted a in Chicago. Outlets describe him as the first pope to vote in a US election.

Leo, 71, was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago and is a US citizen. The Holy See said he has voted as a citizen whenever he was eligible, including during his years in Peru. It added that he believes in "the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes."

Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff at the Will County, Illinois, clerk's office, said Leo requested a mail ballot on Oct. 3, registered at a New Lenox address. Most outlets credit the Chicago Sun-Times with first reporting this, while Axios says Joliet radio station WJOL reported it on Oct. 23. The request came days before surgery to remove a cancerous lung tumor.

Doctors later said no more treatment is needed. His ballot includes Gov. JB Pritzker's bid for a third term and the race for retiring Sen. Dick Durbin's seat. Records show he voted in both Democratic and Republican but do not show whom he backed.

Outlets also recall his clashes with President Trump over the Iran war and immigration. ABC and CBS differ on one year in his primary record.

Three sides of the story

Liberal7 outlets

ABC News, which carries an Associated Press report, and CBS News lead with the Vatican's confirmation and quote its statement on civic participation. Both lay out his voting record from Illinois election files, and ABC notes that the records do not show whom he supported. ABC also recounts Trump calling Leo "weak" and Leo's reply that he is not afraid of the Trump administration.

CBS adds a Sept. 2 audience at which Leo urged believers not to be "unengaged spectators." NBC News centers on the clerk's office, which told it no completed ballot had arrived as of Thursday, and notes that his ballot features solidly Democratic races. It also reports Vice President JD Vance's advice that Leo "be careful" on theology.

The Independent adds political context: it says the midterms are widely seen as a on Trump, cites polling that favors Democrats in , and recounts Trump's earlier spat with the pope, including an AI image the president reposted.

Center5 outlets

Centrist outlets report the Vatican's statement and the account of the Oct. 3 ballot request, and add context on how an overseas citizen votes. Straight Arrow News explains the federal overseas-voting law and notes that Illinois needs no excuse for mail voting. Newsweek places the story alongside the more than 20 million Americans who have voted early and includes the doctors' statement that no further cancer treatment is needed.

BBC News ties it to the midterm stakes, noting that polls favor Democrats in the House, and quotes both Trump and Leo from their April exchange. Axios says Leo "may be the first to vote in any secular democratic election." It names the House race on his ballot, credits Joliet station WJOL with first reporting the request, and notes his Wednesday meeting with Chicago-area advocates for immigrants at an facility in Broadview.

Conservative7 outlets

Right-leaning outlets spend much of their space on the legal basis for the vote and the Illinois political setting. The New York Post cites UCLA's Richard Hasen, who says Leo kept his voting rights, and outlines the overseas-voting law and Vatican citizenship. Fox News reports that the Holy See press office confirmed the ballot to Fox News Digital, and quotes state elections spokesman Matt Dietrich on mail voting.

The Daily Wire details the , governor and House contests, cites a Cook Political Report rating and a Princeton project's F grade for Illinois, and recounts Trump's criticism of Leo along with the Vatican's point that the vote is not an endorsement of any party. The Washington Examiner reports that Substack writer Christopher Hale speculated that the pope's brother John Prevost, described as Trump-supporting, may have delivered the ballot. It says the Trump feud continues to simmer and reviews how popes historically related to elections of Holy Roman Emperors.

Where outlets disagree
  • The years in which Leo requested Democratic primary ballots
    • ABC News: Democratic primary ballots in 2008 and 2010, according to Illinois State Board of Elections records.
    • CBS News: Citing the AP, says he voted on Democratic ballots in 2008 and 2019.
All sources: 21 articles from 19 outlets

Liberal (7)

Center (5)

Conservative (9)

Related
Midterm elections

US elections halfway through a president's four-year term. The whole House, a third of the Senate and many governors are elected. In 2026 Election Day is November 3.

All terms →
Mail-in voting

A ballot sent to the voter by mail and returned filled in. Each state decides who may vote this way and by when the ballot must arrive.

All terms →
Primary election

A vote inside a party to choose its candidate for the general election.

All terms →
Ballot measure

A law or constitutional change that voters approve or reject directly at the polls, alongside the candidates. Names vary by state: proposition, initiative, referendum, amendment.

All terms →
House of Representatives

The lower chamber of Congress: 435 members elected every two years, with more seats for bigger states. It is the chamber that can impeach officials.

All terms →
ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement: the federal agency that arrests, detains and deports people who are in the US without legal status.

All terms →
Senate

The upper chamber of Congress: 100 senators, two per state, elected for six years. It confirms judges and ministers and approves treaties.

All terms →